Buffaloes softball sweeps TMP

Hays, KS-When it’s all said and done, Abbie Dart will go down as one of the best softball players to come through Garden City in a long time. 

Thursday’s performance in the circle just enhanced her already outstanding legacy. 

The senior set a single-game school record with 20 strikeouts as Garden City swept Thomas More Prep 6-0 and 7-3. 

“We have a lot of expectations,” Dart said. “We have a young team, but we have a lot of talent.”

Dart retired 12 out the first 15 hitters she faced in the opener while her offense gave her some cushion. Hailey Dart and Reigan Crawford’s RBI triple pushed Garden City out to a 2-0 lead. Kaci Finch’s sac fly in the third followed by her run-scoring triple in the fifth made it 4-0. Dart added an RBI double in the sixth and an RBI groundout in the seventh for a 6-0 advantage. 

(Abbie) Dart was unbelievable in the circle, allowing just one hit while tossing a 109-pitch gem where she struck out 20 and walked four. 

In game two, it was (Hailey) Dart shutting down the Monarchs. The younger sister scattered two hits and fanned six in a complete-game victory. 

Her older sister got the part started in the first with an RBI single before the Buffaloes tacked on another run because of an error.  Morgan Cabral ripped a run-scoring double in the third, and Finch’s RBI single in the fourth gave the Buffaloes a 6-0 advantage. (Hailey) Dart singled home one in the fifth. 

TMP scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth and then another in the sixth before (Hailey) Dart worked around a two-out walk to close the job in the seventh.